According to the International Sleep Products Association (ISPA) the domestic US mattress industry shipped mattresses and foundation units in 2004 totaling 41 million pieces or roughly 20 million sets of bedding with a retail value in excess of $10 billion.
According to the American Home Furnishings Association (AHFA) the domestic US retail sales of furniture in 2005 totaled approximately $37.6 billion.
Much of the history of the structural design approach to making and assembling mattresses, mattress foundations, upholstered furniture articles and other articles filled with resilient cushioning materials has seen the introduction of innovation in terms of small, incremental changes—for instance changes in the use of new filling materials or new cover fabrics.
There has, however, recently been dramatic change to the structural design approaches found in mattresses. In the last several years the introduction of user-adjustable air-bladder based sleep systems, development of new “space-age” memory foams.
Numerous filling or cushioning materials are used to construct mattresses, mattress foundations, upholstered furniture articles and other articles filled with cushioning materials. These can be made from foam, fiber, hair block, colloids or other similar resilient material or the cushioning elements may also be made from use of bladders or chambers filled with gases or liquids, such as air or water or the cushioning material may be a spring unit
Manufacturers of flexible polyurethane foam, textile fibers and other resilient filling materials employ a wide variety of technical measurements to communicate the performance attributes engineered into particular foams. Such technical measurements include indentation force deflection (IFD), indentation load deflection (ILD), tensile strength, tear strength, density pounds per cubic foot (PCF), flex fatigue, denier, cut length, and basis weight.
Materials may be further differentiated by their composition. In the case of flexible polyurethane foams, for instance, there are visco-elastic foams, latex foams, memory foams, conventional foams, filled conventional foams, high resiliency (HR) foams, modified HR foams, combustion modified foams, melamine modified foams—all of which can be made at differing densities and hardness, making the possible total number of combinations potentially limitless.
The complexity of the technical measures that are intended to communicate important performance characteristics to users are even difficult for those skilled in the art to comprehend. These technical measures are predominantly the science that underlies the concept of comfort that serves as the foundation of most marketing efforts for such articles.
It is likely that consumers, untrained in such technical specifics will not be able to fully understand the information presented or more critically may be confused by technical complexity and therefore fail to fully appreciate the range of benefits potentially being offered to them.
There exists a need to create a more basic method to communicate this highly technical information to consumers so that the producers of such material can capture the full value of the products that they are creating and also to ensure that consumers establish a more meaningful emotional attachment to the materials in question.
Color is a very powerful tool. It evokes responses on primitive, emotional levels and has been described as a catalyst for feelings. Color has the ability to convey strong sense's of one's self and has even been shown to confer healthful benefits in certain settings. Color choices can stimulate energy or promote calm. Color can also serve to quickly differentiate one item from another.
The psychology of color and color selection has been widely studied and there are numerous associations that have been identified between particular colors and the symbolism that they represent and the impact that varying cultures and/or lifestyles may have on these interpretations. The following table (Table 1) offers one example of the ranges of common connotations that can be inferred from specific color selections and does include some references to the cultural interpretations that may result as well.
TABLE 1ColorCommon connotationsGrayElegance, humility, respect, reverence, stability, subtlety, wisdom, anachronism, boredom, decay, decrepitude, dullness, dust, pollution, urban sprawl, strong emotions, balance, neutrality, mourning, formality, March.WhiteReverence, purity, snow, peace, innocence, cleanliness, simplicity, security, humility, sterility, winter, coldness, clinicism, surrender, cowardice, fearfulness, unimaginative, air, fire, death (Eastern cultures), hope, Aries, Pisces (star signs), January.BlackModernity, power, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, style, evil, death (Western cultures), fear, anonymity, anger, sadness, remorse, mourning, unhappiness, mysterious, sex, seriousness, conventionality, rebellion, sorrow, January.RedPassion, strength, energy, fire, love, sex, excitement, speed, heat, arrogance, ambition, leadership, masculinity, power, danger, gaudiness, blood, war, anger, revolution, radicalism, socialism, communism, aggression, summer, autumn, stop,Mars (planet), respect, Gemini (star sign), December.Studies show that red can have a physical effect, increasingthe rate of respiration and raising blood pressure; red alsois said to make people hungry; the red ruby is the traditional40th wedding anniversary gift; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning; red sky at night, shepherd's delight.BlueSeas, skies, peace, unity, harmony, tranquility, calmness, coolness, confidence, conservatism, water, ice, loyalty,dependability, cleanliness, technology, winter, depression,coldness, idealism, obscenity, tackiness, air, wisdom, Earth (planet), Virgo (light blue), Pisces (pale blue) and Aquarius (dark blue) (star sign), strength, steadfastness, light, friendliness, July (sky blue), February (deep blue), peace, mourning (Iran), truthfulness, love.In many diverse cultures blue is significant in religious beliefs, believed to keep the bad spirits away.GreenNature, bad spirits, spring, fertility, youth, environment, wealth,money (US), good luck, vigor, generosity, go, grass, aggression, inexperience, envy, misfortune, coldness, jealousy,disgrace (China), illness, greed, corruption (North Africa), lifeeternal, air, earth (classical element), sincerity, hope, Cancer (bright green, star sign), renewal, natural abundance, growth, health, August, balance, harmony, stability, Islam.During the Middle Ages, both green and yellow were used to symbolize the devil. Green is believed to be the luckiest of colors in some western countries including,Britain, Ireland (where it is also the national color) and the U.S.YellowSunlight, joy, happiness, earth, optimism, intelligence, idealism, wealth (gold), summer, hope, air, liberalism, cowardice, illness(quarantine), hazards, dishonesty, avarice, weakness, greed,femininity, gladness, sociability, summer, friendship, Taurus, Leo (golden yellow, star signs), April, September, deceit,hazard signs, death (Middle Ages), mourning (Egypt), courage(Japan). Yellow ribbons were worn during times of warfare asa sign of hope as women waited from their men to return.During the Middle Ages, both green and yellow were used to symbolize the devil.PurpleEnvy, Sensuality, spirituality, creativity, wealth, royalty, nobility, ceremony, mystery, wisdom, enlightenment, arrogance, flamboyance, gaudiness, mourning,profanity, exaggeration, confusion, homosexuality, pride, Libra (violet, star sign), May, November, riches, romanticism (light purple), delicacy (light purple).Purple is the color of mourning for widows in Thailand, favoritecolor of Egypt's Cleopatra, and the purple heart - givento soldiers who have been wounded during warfare.OrangeHinduism, Buddhism, energy, balance, heat, fire, enthusiasm, flamboyance, playfulness, aggression, arrogance,gaudiness, overemotion, warning, danger, enthusiasm,autumn, desire, Sagittarius (star sign), September.Orange has less intensity or aggression than red and is calmed by the cheerfulness of yellow.BrownCalm, depth, natural organisms, nature, richness, rusticism, stability, tradition, anachronism, boorishness, dirt, dullness,filth, heaviness, poverty, roughness, earth(classical element), October, Capricorn, Scorpio (reddish brown, star signs), down-to-earth. Brown can stimulate the appetite, wholesomeness, steadfastness, simplicity, and dependability.PinkSpring, gratitude, appreciation, admiration, sympathy, femininity, health, love, June, marriage, homosexuality, bisexuality (both in the form of a pink triangle).
Color science can be complex but because it is visual tool it benefits from the adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Color can be used to quickly differentiate one set of items from another. For instance, sports teams wear uniforms of differing colors to make differential recognition immediate. Complex filing systems use colors to more readily identify the standard alphabetic separations. Rather than rely on words or physical descriptions for wiring diagrams, home entertainment and computer network systems routinely utilize color-coding schemes to facilitate and simplify communication of wiring arrangements.
Relevant references relating to standards and guidelines:
Polyurethane Foam Association—Joint Industry Foam Standards and Guidelines—Section 1.0: Density Standards and Guidelines, published July 1994.
Polyurethane Foam Association—Joint Industry Foam Standards and Guidelines—Section 2.0: Tensile Strength, Tear Strength, and Elongation Standards and Guidelines, published July 1994.
Polyurethane Foam Association—Joint Industry Foam Standards and Guidelines—Section 4.0: Indentation Force Deflection (IFD) Standards and Guidelines, published July 1994.
Polyurethane Foam Association—Joint Industry Foam Standards and Guidelines—Section 9.0: Flex Fatigue or In-Use Softening Standards and Guidelines, published July 1994.
The Color Answer Book, Leatrice Eisemen. Copyright 2003